Well, I was kind of thrilled to not have any sponsored logs or obligations for a while, so I could lay off from AM a bit other than to help other people out, but here I am again. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that I need this to keep my mind in a good place. Lately, my motivation has been much less as I've found that seemingly no matter what I do in the gym or the kitchen, my body composition stays the same or worsens. It will likely continue to be this way until my thyroid situation levels out.

That being said, I'm tired of having the negative outlook that I've allowed myself to fall prey to the last couple months and I'm ready to get back to where i was (at least in some regard).

I'm going to be making some changes in how I do things. I normally work a 5-day split, but I'm condensing it down to a 3-day split until the thyroid situation is fixed. I will be doing a push-day, pull-day and leg-day. For the most part, the style will be max-OT training in order to keep strength up so when it's time to get back at it, I won't have to start back over.

I will also be adding in a lot more cardio; just to build my lungs up, not for fat-loss as that doesn't really matter at the moment.

I will be going week-by-week and adding more mileage each week. Today was the start of this and I will be netting 1 mile each day. Next week will be 2 miles each day, and so on.

This will be a virtually supplement free time for me. I'm currently using a multi-vitamin, extra vitamin E for my hair, and fish oil. Creatine monohydrate and glutamine are taken with my post-workout shake (creatine taken on all days). I'm using Revamp for another 3 weeks until my 12-week stimulant break has been reached. I don't know if and when I'll start using stimulants again. Pre-workout, I'm still using some Adamantium (1 scoop) with 2g extra LCLT and occasionally a little Creatine Nitrate with Vitamin C. That's it.

To those of you who know me, I'll appreciate your presence in here for encouraging words to keep my head in a good place and keep from falling back into the habit of eating garbage and being a couch potato.

Today is the start of a new life for me.

Psalm 34:10 - "The lions may grow weak and hungry, but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing."

I was impressed with my strength, considering this was my first lift in a week. My incline numbers are near PR strength, which is also impressive considering I'm not taking much of anything.

I plan on running most of my miles, though I may do some of them at a lower intensity and work on an incline on my lifting days when they're post-workout. I was going to run this one, but for some reason, my feet were sliding around really badly on the treadmill and I didn't feel like falling today.

Psalm 34:10 - "The lions may grow weak and hungry, but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing."

U know i got u brother. You can always hit me up when you need a little pat on the back. I think your taking a wise approach by using this "down" time so to speak to focus on some other things in your life, like your masters for instance.

I'll be following and showing my support. Great start for the log, if your numbers keep going up I'll be jealous haha looking good so far.

Thanks for joining, man. I appreciate it

Originally Posted by MakaveliThaDon

U know i got u brother. You can always hit me up when you need a little pat on the back. I think your taking a wise approach by using this "down" time so to speak to focus on some other things in your life, like your masters for instance.

It'll all come together in the end.

Oh I know, bro. We'll get this thing. I don't have any doubts about it; I just have to stay positive in the meantime. It's way too easy to get sucked into the darkness and the negatives. I need AM to keep myself accountable. I may not look the part, but I intend to be strong and have my old college basketball lungs back at the very least.

Psalm 34:10 - "The lions may grow weak and hungry, but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing."

Oh I know, bro. We'll get this thing. I don't have any doubts about it; I just have to stay positive in the meantime. It's way too easy to get sucked into the darkness and the negatives. I need AM to keep myself accountable. I may not look the part, but I intend to be strong and have my old college basketball lungs back at the very least.

LOL, nice! Basketball is the only sport I've ever been able to stand myself. I played it in school too, until I figured out I liked working out far better. Now all I do these days mostly is just watch it

Glad to have you in here, Rick. I'll just be fuming with jealousy at your avatar until my body starts working...lol

Originally Posted by MakaveliThaDon

LOL, nice! Basketball is the only sport I've ever been able to stand myself. I played it in school too, until I figured out I liked working out far better. Now all I do these days mostly is just watch it

I played baseball my whole life and that was always my sport. I stated playing year-round once I hit high school and finally hung it up when I was 20 after my freshman year of college. When I stopped playing, I relied on lifting a whole lot more. It wasn't until my senior year of college that I started playing basketball (I'd only played on YMCA teams when I was little; I was good, but not that good lol). My buddy was really good in high school and played all the time at the rec, so I started playing just as a way to get some running in without having to be on the track. I started out pretty bad, but slowly got better. My favorite thing hands down was setting hard picks on people who weren't paying attention on fast breaks, haha.

I got to the point between that year, the Summer after, and the following 2 years of grad school where I was running upwards of 10 games in a row, playing for 2-3 hours straight a night, 4-5 nights a week. Because of the hypothyroidism, I never got as lean and ripped as one should have, but being a fairly big guy, I was outrunning smaller guys on fast breaks like it was nothing.

Once I moved to KY, there was no where to play regularly. I played with some guys when I first moved here at a community center, but it was largely high school kids and too long of a wait for only half court games with showboaters. I met some guys who were fun to play with at an outdoor court, but they were smoking pot there between games and their girlfriends were smoking the whole time, too. I could care less about it, but I don't need to be around that and get arrested for something stupid. Now, I only get to play one night a week at the church, and it's half court games of 2 on 2 or 3 on 3 if we're lucky. A few new kids showed up this past week, though, and I guess they play at another church in town on Sundays, so I'm hoping to get set up with that.

It's hard to keep my lungs up when I only play one night a week. I lost all that endurance that I used to have. It also doesn't help, now, that I'm carrying all the extra fat around my midsection; particularly my sides and lower back. Oh well, it'll all be sorted out over time. I'm also not worried at all about being catabolic or any of that nonsense that I let myself become afraid of and was very cautious with my cardio. Whenever things fall into place, I will cut pretty hard and I'll try not to lose muscle, but if I do, I won't cry over it. I'd much rather lose that mass to get down to a very low BF% and feel healthy and just add the muscle back over time.

Psalm 34:10 - "The lions may grow weak and hungry, but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing."

welp, I gotta tell you bro. If 100mcg ED of t3 ain't making you lose any muscle, then I think your probably not gonna

Originally Posted by RickRock13

I have to agree. I don't know anyone that doesn't have to fight the catabolism like hell on T3

I think that's a pretty good indicator of how screwed up my thyroid is, lol. And I've definitely lost some muscle, but it's hard to know if it's from the T3, lack of lifting as much as I had been, not taking enough protein in daily, or a combination of the 3. My arms and back have definitely shrank a bit, but the odd thing is that the strength is still there.

I'm gonna hit a mile on the treadmill here at the house in a bit.

Psalm 34:10 - "The lions may grow weak and hungry, but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing."

I think that's a pretty good indicator of how screwed up my thyroid is, lol. And I've definitely lost some muscle, but it's hard to know if it's from the T3, lack of lifting as much as I had been, not taking enough protein in daily, or a combination of the 3. My arms and back have definitely shrank a bit, but the odd thing is that the strength is still there.

I was 245.4 this morning. I was up to 249 a few of the days prior. It's been right around that 245 mark for quite a while. With the diet being dialed back in and the additional running, I'll be interested to see if any difference is made. Since the blood work shows progress in the right direction, it'll be interesting. I still need to try to get cortisol tested. I'll probably call my doctor this week to see if he'll agree on it, since he was the one who'd brought it up when we met a week and a half ago.

Psalm 34:10 - "The lions may grow weak and hungry, but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing."

I was 245.4 this morning. I was up to 249 a few of the days prior. It's been right around that 245 mark for quite a while. With the diet being dialed back in and the additional running, I'll be interested to see if any difference is made. Since the blood work shows progress in the right direction, it'll be interesting. I still need to try to get cortisol tested. I'll probably call my doctor this week to see if he'll agree on it, since he was the one who'd brought it up when we met a week and a half ago.

yah, if you can talk him into that 24 hr urinary cortisol that would be ideal, for sure. I'd love to see you get that done homez.

Took it pretty easy the last 2 days. I'm amazed at how sore I am/was from the push day. It's been years since I've combined muscle groups like that and when I used to lift it was never that heavy (I'm talking back in like freshman/sophomore year of college). Today, my triceps finally don't feel miserable anymore lol.

I played basketball for an hour today. We had enough for 3's the first 3 games, and then 4's, which we ran full-court for the 4th game. I managed to get stuck on the losing team all 4 games, got extremely pissed off, so I just left after the 4th game. i knew I was just gonna blow up if I stayed any longer and we actually had 9, so it left them with an even 8.

One of the guys who plays on occasion who hasn't been there in at least a month was there, today. He's probably 6'5" and on top of that, he is a good shooter. I guarded him every game because I know no one else out there would D him up as hard as I would. He still dropped probably 3 baskets a game on me and it's a wash, usually -- give him the 2 and he sinks it almost every time even with a hand right in front of his face; guard him any tighter than that and he can force through for a layup. I like the challenge, though. My offense wasn't there, today like it usually is and on top of that, no one else on my team decided to step up.

I never used to be so competitive, but it's been really bad the last few years, now. I'm so used to playing ball at the school and running with guys who are really good and winning 5, 6, 7, 8 games in a row. I'm not used to, nor do I like, losing.

I was in a pretty angry mood when I got home, but I managed to watch Soul Surfer and it put me in a great mood. It is hands down one of the best movies I've ever seen. It was great all around and the story is just very touching. It made me look at my situation in a new light and gave me some extra drive that I've been missing.

Tomorrow will be my Pull day.

Psalm 34:10 - "The lions may grow weak and hungry, but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing."

Took it pretty easy the last 2 days. I'm amazed at how sore I am/was from the push day. It's been years since I've combined muscle groups like that and when I used to lift it was never that heavy (I'm talking back in like freshman/sophomore year of college). Today, my triceps finally don't feel miserable anymore lol.

I played basketball for an hour today. We had enough for 3's the first 3 games, and then 4's, which we ran full-court for the 4th game. I managed to get stuck on the losing team all 4 games, got extremely pissed off, so I just left after the 4th game. i knew I was just gonna blow up if I stayed any longer and we actually had 9, so it left them with an even 8.

One of the guys who plays on occasion who hasn't been there in at least a month was there, today. He's probably 6'5" and on top of that, he is a good shooter. I guarded him every game because I know no one else out there would D him up as hard as I would. He still dropped probably 3 baskets a game on me and it's a wash, usually -- give him the 2 and he sinks it almost every time even with a hand right in front of his face; guard him any tighter than that and he can force through for a layup. I like the challenge, though. My offense wasn't there, today like it usually is and on top of that, no one else on my team decided to step up.

I never used to be so competitive, but it's been really bad the last few years, now. I'm so used to playing ball at the school and running with guys who are really good and winning 5, 6, 7, 8 games in a row. I'm not used to, nor do I like, losing.

I was in a pretty angry mood when I got home, but I managed to watch Soul Surfer and it put me in a great mood. It is hands down one of the best movies I've ever seen. It was great all around and the story is just very touching. It made me look at my situation in a new light and gave me some extra drive that I've been missing.

Tomorrow will be my Pull day.

Yah, that's an amazing movie man! I'm not even gonna lie, I might of had to dry the eyes a bit watching it...

Yah, that's an amazing movie man! I'm not even gonna lie, I might of had to dry the eyes a bit watching it...

Haha, I cried my eyes out on numerous occasions. I wouldn't even try to deny it. Like I said, it just puts everything in perspective. I might not be able to have the body I want right now, but it could sure be worse and I can still do all the things I want to. I just need to suck it up.

Psalm 34:10 - "The lions may grow weak and hungry, but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing."

Well, I was kind of thrilled to not have any sponsored logs or obligations for a while, so I could lay off from AM a bit other than to help other people out, but here I am again. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that I need this to keep my mind in a good place. Lately, my motivation has been much less as I've found that seemingly no matter what I do in the gym or the kitchen, my body composition stays the same or worsens. It will likely continue to be this way until my thyroid situation levels out.

That being said, I'm tired of having the negative outlook that I've allowed myself to fall prey to the last couple months and I'm ready to get back to where i was (at least in some regard).

I'm going to be making some changes in how I do things. I normally work a 5-day split, but I'm condensing it down to a 3-day split until the thyroid situation is fixed. I will be doing a push-day, pull-day and leg-day. For the most part, the style will be max-OT training in order to keep strength up so when it's time to get back at it, I won't have to start back over.

I will also be adding in a lot more cardio; just to build my lungs up, not for fat-loss as that doesn't really matter at the moment.

I will be going week-by-week and adding more mileage each week. Today was the start of this and I will be netting 1 mile each day. Next week will be 2 miles each day, and so on.

This will be a virtually supplement free time for me. I'm currently using a multi-vitamin, extra vitamin E for my hair, and fish oil. Creatine monohydrate and glutamine are taken with my post-workout shake (creatine taken on all days). I'm using Revamp for another 3 weeks until my 12-week stimulant break has been reached. I don't know if and when I'll start using stimulants again. Pre-workout, I'm still using some Adamantium (1 scoop) with 2g extra LCLT and occasionally a little Creatine Nitrate with Vitamin C. That's it.

To those of you who know me, I'll appreciate your presence in here for encouraging words to keep my head in a good place and keep from falling back into the habit of eating garbage and being a couch potato.

Today is the start of a new life for me.

I feel your pain bro and I'll sub to support you. When I found out about my thyroid issues about a month ago it threw me in a complete funk. I lost my motivation to workout and started eating poorly for a couple weeks at least. I'm sure you know but loss of motivation and depression are symptoms of hypothyroidism. I think mine was more like what does it matter right now since my body is screwed up. The last week or two I've started getting more focused again. I've switched to an HST routine 6 days a week which is pretty intense but it keeps me more focused and eating healthier. I do think I am starting to feel a difference psychologically and physically from the T3 and T4 supplementation. To keep my sanity I've given myself a mindset of hoping my body will reach a healthy equilibrium over the next 6 months rather than expect something radical within a few weeks or so. That way I won't get disappointed in the near term.

Hopefully, you'll get that Rev. T3 taken care of and get on a routine that will get you feeling better. I would really suggest not thinking about it too much. As long as your treatment is progressing try to put your mind on other things. That's why I'm working out six days a week. Keeps me busy so I don't sit around and think about stuff that is detrimental to me.

Originally Posted by MidwestBeast

Haha, I cried my eyes out on numerous occasions. I wouldn't even try to deny it. Like I said, it just puts everything in perspective. I might not be able to have the body I want right now, but it could sure be worse and I can still do all the things I want to. I just need to suck it up.

This movie completely rocked. I cried too as it an amazing testimony in itself, but also because is helped to encourage me at a difficult time in my life - especially loved the ending with the rainbow in the background based on the bow's true meaning representing God's faithfullness.

You'll get through this time and be a stronger man for it. It's the difficulties in life that forge character, not the easy times. Much like our beloved weightlifting; it the difficult lifts and hard workouts that create a stronger body, not the easy ones.

I feel your pain bro and I'll sub to support you. When I found out about my thyroid issues about a month ago it threw me in a complete funk. I lost my motivation to workout and started eating poorly for a couple weeks at least. I'm sure you know but loss of motivation and depression are symptoms of hypothyroidism. I think mine was more like what does it matter right now since my body is screwed up. The last week or two I've started getting more focused again. I've switched to an HST routine 6 days a week which is pretty intense but it keeps me more focused and eating healthier. I do think I am starting to feel a difference psychologically and physically from the T3 and T4 supplementation. To keep my sanity I've given myself a mindset of hoping my body will reach a healthy equilibrium over the next 6 months rather than expect something radical within a few weeks or so. That way I won't get disappointed in the near term.

Hopefully, you'll get that Rev. T3 taken care of and get on a routine that will get you feeling better. I would really suggest not thinking about it too much. As long as your treatment is progressing try to put your mind on other things. That's why I'm working out six days a week. Keeps me busy so I don't sit around and think about stuff that is detrimental to me.

This movie completely rocked. I cried too as it an amazing testimony in itself, but also because is helped to encourage me at a difficult time in my life - especially loved the ending with the rainbow in the background based on the bow's true meaning representing God's faithfullness.

You'll get through this time and be a stronger man for it. It's the difficulties in life that forge character, not the easy times. Much like our beloved weightlifting; it the difficult lifts and hard workouts that create a stronger body, not the easy ones.

Thank you so much for that entire post. It's amazing the people that I've met through AM. Thank you.

Psalm 34:10 - "The lions may grow weak and hungry, but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing."

I hope you guys do! I actually called my mom and was telling her that I want her and my dad to watch it. They're usually both so busy that they never do anything like that, but I think it's the perfect movie to do it with. What's amazing to me is that it's a wonderful family movie, too. They don't seem to have too many of those anymore. They either have more sex or swearing than you'd like or they're so corny that it's not even enjoyable. This is just a great movie in all aspects and they didn't find the need to clutter it up with anything unnecessary. It's one I'll definitely watch again.

And I already got the soundtrack (granted, I had a lot of the Christian songs already, haha).

Psalm 34:10 - "The lions may grow weak and hungry, but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing."

That's off the top of my head without my notebook, but that should all be correct. I'm impressed with my strength, considering that my diet is all over the place right now (e.g. on that day, I ate a solid pre-workout meal at ~80g carbs / 100g protein, 60g isolate post-workout and that was it for the entire day) and I'm not taking anything more than a multi, creatine and fish oil and I often don't take those anymore, either.

I definitely look flatter and don't have the same animal drive in the gym that I know. I saw my buddy there who is just finishing up a cycle (his 3rd) and his arms are now as big or bigger than mine; so very depressing lol.

Psalm 34:10 - "The lions may grow weak and hungry, but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing."